


Quoyloo: liberate the Northern Isles!

by Hypatia_66



Series: An UNCLE Gazetteer [17]
Category: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (TV)
Genre: ABC Challenge, Community: section7mfu, Gen, Nationalism, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 11:34:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15000044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hypatia_66/pseuds/Hypatia_66
Summary: LJ ABC Affair II. Cities A-Z. Prompt: QWill Thrush help to establish a Viking stronghold?





	Quoyloo: liberate the Northern Isles!

Waverly came to the point. Russian submarines in the North Atlantic. Soviet activity in what US naval command regarded as its tactical northern flank. It appeared that strategic nuclear-armed subs were lurking off the north coast of Scotland. Napoleon glanced at his partner’s face.

“Where could they hide?” said Illya, practically. “They’re noisy things.”

“Potentially around Orkney and Shetland. Orkney is on the southern edge of the present monitoring area,” said Waverly. “But there are natural harbours among the islands and if one were to be captured – somehow or other – it would provide a hostile power with a considerable threat.”

Illya raised his eyebrows and turned to Napoleon, who said, “Are you suggesting that _Thrush_ might be looking for a way of capturing one?”

“It seems a Thrush agent has been seen on Orkney’s main island asking questions about the state of the harbours and the accuracy of the charts – so, yes. I want you to find him and put him off.”

oo000oo

The small passenger plane touched down at Kirkwall airport in rain, so they could see nothing. Their contact, Donald Isbister, who had no trouble identifying them, met them inside the tiny terminal and led them out through the rain to his car.

In the short distance to Kirkwall, the weather changed from torrential rain to bright sunshine. “You’ll get used to it,” said Mr Isbister, “the weather can change from hot sunshine to blizzard in a morning, here. I hope you have brought warm underwear and waterproofs.”

“Where are we going?” asked Illya as they passed through Kirkwall and out into the treeless green country beyond.

“If you’ve no objection to staying with me, I’m taking you to my home,” he said, giving them little chance to resist. “You get a quick look at the sights on the way to Quoyloo,” he said, pointing.

And indeed, they were already passing the Neolithic monuments of Maes Howe and the stone circles of Stenness and Brodgar. And shortly before the turn to Quoyloo, they even passed the sign to Skara Brae.

oo000oo

“Just as a matter of interest,” said Napoleon later, as they sat discussing tactics, “why have _we_ been called in rather than London agents?”

“Ah, there now, Mr Solo, politics. Politics. Orcadians would have no objection to English agents, but the Scots who arranged this object strongly.”

“Aren’t you all Scottish?”

“Good God, no. We’re not Scottish. Orcadians and Shetlanders are of Viking stock. Our thousand-year old allegiances are naturally towards Scandinavia – though, of course, we are loyal subjects of Her Majesty.”

“Have you traced the Thrush agent?” said Illya, glancing at Napoleon but apparently ignoring this.

“Not yet, no.”

“And this submarine, has it been seen?”

“No, but we’ve heard it. I’ll show you where, tomorrow.” He seemed unwilling to go into further detail and talked about dinner instead. He was a big, well-fed man; Illya’s cool demeanour brightened a little.

oo000oo

Breakfast gained Illya’s full approval, too, as a repast designed to keep out any amount of weather. After it, Isbister took them – via a brief detour to Skara Brae where in this morning’s sunshine, the prehistoric village overlooked white sand and a brilliant blue sea – to the cliffs at Marwick Head where it was raining. “Our man has been seen around here, and out there trawlers have heard the sound of the sub,” he said.

The sky cleared, revealing a spectacular view of the coast. “This doesn’t seem to me to be the best place for submarine-spotting, let alone capturing,” said Illya. “A narrow strait would be better, surely?” He was standing close to the edge looking out at the seabirds wheeling round the huge noisy colony on the cliffs, his hair forming a golden halo in the whirling wind. Isbister moved towards him suddenly and seemed to reach for his arm but Napoleon was quicker and held him in a firm grip as Illya turned.

“He was quite safe there, Mr Isbister,” Napoleon said gently. “You should never touch a Section Two agent without warning – surely you knew that? He could have sent you over.”

Isbister looked at them warily.

“Who is paying you to betray – or was it to kill us?” said Illya. Isbister stiffened indignantly. “Did you imagine we would come without checking every detail? You were the so-called Thrush agent, weren’t you?”

The man’s friendliness collapsed along with the weather. A vicious hailstorm drove them back along the path to the car. Illya demanded the car keys and Napoleon pushed Isbister into the back for the drive to the police at Kirkwall.

oo000oo

“He wanted independence for the islands,” said Napoleon, talking to Mr Waverly on his communicator. He heard a grunt and added, “he seemed to think that he could throw us both over the cliff and win Thrush support to capture a Soviet submarine and that would be a big enough weapon to defend the islands.”

“Big enough? I should say so. Oh, these nationalists,” sighed Waverly. “Mad. They’ll be the death of us.”

**Author's Note:**

> Quoyloo: the name means cattle pen, from the Norse word kví.
> 
> Isbister is also an Orcadian place name meaning eastern farm. Pronounced Eyes-bister.
> 
> The Neolithic sites on Orkney were built 4,000-6,000 years ago. Maes Howe is a large chambered cairn; the Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar are henges with stone circles, both older than Stonehenge in England. Skara Brae is a Neolithic settlement, 5,000-6,000 years old, once buried by sand and uncovered during a storm in 1850.


End file.
